Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Aug 27 2007
What Anti-Defamation League statements put at stake
Searching through news articles published and aired by international
media concerning Turkey and Israel would probably yield many results
concerning government or military cooperation between the two
countries, all emphasizing the fact that Turkey is one of the few
Muslim countries with which Israel has diplomatic ties.
Yet this fact changed as of last week when the New York-based
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) decided to label the World War I
killings of Anatolian Armenians as genocide, reversing its long-time
policy of approaching the issue in a more balanced way.
Elaborating on certain news articles found in Today’s Zaman’s
archives can be helpful in focusing on what this article will humbly
try to draw attention to: It was only last week that Turkey was the
host country of a live, joint search-and-rescue exercise conducted by
Israeli, Turkish and US naval and air forces in the international
waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, south of the Turkish coast.
"The objective of this exercise is to practice coordinated emergency
search-and-rescue procedures and life safety measures at sea. By
enhancing their interoperability, cooperation and coordination level
during the exercise, elements of the three naval and air forces will
be able to respond more efficiently and rapidly to potential maritime
emergencies as well as to humanitarian assistance in the future," the
Turkish General Staff said at the time.
And it was only earlier this month when a veteran Middle East
commentator’s article posted from the Turkish capital and published
in the influential Israeli daily Haaretz quoted hopeful remarks by
Turkish diplomats who have been trying to jumpstart peace talks
between Syria and Israel.
Recent news articles reflect deep disappointment with the Turkish
capital’s beliefs that calling the 1915 incidents genocide has
neither historical nor legal grounds. Statements made by Turkish
diplomats, independent of the ADL’s announcement in which it reversed
its policy on the Armenian issue, provide strong clues on what kinds
of concerns led the Turkish political leadership to voice such strong
disappointment.
"We consider this statement, which also constitutes fairness to the
unique position of the Holocaust in history as well as to memories of
its [the Holocaust’s] victims, as a misfortune and expect it be
corrected," Levent Bilman said in a written statement, while Turkey’s
Ambassador to Israel Namýk Tan said the ADL’s change of policy is
incompatible with Turkey’s existing strategic relations with both
Israel and the US.
Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kinsmen died in a
systematic genocide campaign by Ottoman Turks around the time of
World War I, but Ankara categorically rejects the label, saying that
both Armenians and Turks died in civil strife during World War I,
when the Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia
and sided with Russian troops that were invading the crumbling
Ottoman Empire.
In a statement published on its Internet site on Thursday, following
its first statement announcing change of policy, the ADL said it was
ready to support reconciliation efforts between Turks and Armenians
after it sent shockwaves through Ankara by recognizing Armenian
allegations of genocide, referring to Turkey’s proposal dating back
to 2005.
Ankara is well aware of the fact that the ADL is solely a
nongovernmental organization based in the United States and has no
official link to the Israeli state. Yet Turkish officials are also
aware of the fact that Turkey’s sensitive public opinion would not
make this distinction between governmental and nongovernmental
institutions, possibly leading to escalation of both anti-Israeli and
anti-US sentiments in society. The ruling Justice and Development
Party (AK Party) and its leader, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan,
known for their firm stance against anti-Semitism, would not be
strong enough to prevent such a reaction from the public given the
fact that the g-word ("genocide") is a nonstarter if Turkey’s friends
are sincerely hoping for Turkey and its people to face bitter
memories of their joint history with the Armenian people. Genocide is
also a legal term and speaking about the tragic events that
transpired in Anatolia during World War I is more than just a legal
matter.
Israel is also well aware of all of these facts given that its
President Shimon Peres felt the need to assure Erdoðan that Israel
has not changed its position on the Armenian issue. During a
telephone conversation with Erdoðan last week, Peres reiterated the
Israeli position that Turkey and Armenia should resolve the dispute
on the nature of the killings of Anatolian Armenians through
dialogue. According to the Israeli media, Peres, during the same
conversation, also noted that Israel does not control US Jewish
organizations, which pursue their own agendas.
Nonetheless, the matter doesn’t seem to be Ankara’s lack of awareness
of what Peres underlined concerning the US based-Jewish organizations
as Ankara considers ADL-like statements to be "seeds of discord"
being planted in strategic Turkish-Israeli relations which will
ultimately have a poisoning effect.
27.08.2007
Emine Kart